People's National Party (PNP) repeats full literacy pledge
WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE - PHOTOGRAPHER Prime Minister and President of the People’s National Party, Portia Simpson Miller, holds aloft a copy of the party’s manifesto which was launched last evening inside the Courtleigh auditorium, St. Lucia Avenue, New Kingston.
Published in the Jamaica Gleaner: Friday | August 10, 2007
Daraine Luton and Edmond Campbell, Staff Reporters
AS IT did five years ago, the People's National Party (PNP) said yesterday that it would implement a national remediation programme to achieve 100 per cent literacy in five years.
The party outlined this and other visions in its 2007 Manifesto under the theme 'On Course to the Quality Society', which was launched at the Courtleigh auditorium, New Kingston, yesterday evening.
In its 2002 Manifesto, 'Advancing The Quality Society', the PNP had pledged to deliver 100 per cent literacy for theschool-leaving population by 2007.
Jamaica ranks 81 on the Human Development Report of 2004 in terms of adult literacy, which stands at 79.9 per cent.
The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) promised in its manifesto to abolish tuition fees up to the secondary level. The PNP, has however, said that it would continue with the transformation of education and would increase the number of students benefiting from the exam-fee assistance programme to reach approximately 40,000 annually.
'Winning manifesto'
Prime Minister and PNP president Portia Simpson Miller referred to the document as the "winning manifesto for the August 27 election". She said the manifesto was covenant with the Jamaican people over the next five years," adding that it is founded on truth, pragmatism and firm commitment.
Education transformation and training is one of the 10 major pillars on which the PNP hopes to convince Jamaicans to give the party the mandate to govern for another five years.
The others are: Constitutional Reform; Governance and Justice; Public Order; Security and Safety; Wealth and Job Creation; Environment, Land and Development Planning; Energy Revolution and Governance and Community Development and the Promotion of The Social Agenda.
In education, the PNP said it will ensure that by 2015, all students in grades 1 to 6 are exposed to Spanish as a foreign language. The party said it will also implement performance management systems with agreed targets for schools and students by 2008/09.
In attacking illiteracy, the PNP pointed to the recruitment and training of 400 remediation specialist teachers.
In addition to improving the National Youth Service (NYS) and delivering training, the PNP said it would establish a multi-purpose camp facility in rural Jamaica. This facility will serve the NYS in expanding a re-socialisation and training programme for youth who are unattached or at risk.
The PNP said it was also committed to the reform of the justice system. Its manifesto said the party would regionalise the Supreme Court to enhance the dispensation of justice. It also said it would review the operations of specialised courts and introduce new courts to deal with mental health and domestic violence.
In the area of health, the party has pledged to provide a hospice-type facility in western Jamaica for the terminally ill. The PNP also said it would be acquiring an additional 60 ambulances.
The 94-page document stated that the party was committed to infrastructure development, crime fighting and generating investment. It also said the PNP would be implementing a flexi-work week.
The PNP also said it would continue to strive to reduce the fiscal deficit. It said that unless the fiscal deficit is eliminated, the country will continue to be plagued by high debt servicing. The PNP also said that it is aiming for economic growth of six to seven per cent annually while at the same time significantly reducing youth unemployment.
With a clear jab at the JLP, the PNP said it "will not make promises to the electorate to win the next term."
"We are committed to prudent fiscal management as that is the best interest of Jamaica's growth and development," the manifesto said.
